Lovely Time of Year on Earth and ...Mars

Following any snowfall in 42N country is the aftermath of frozen water cleanup. Included in the plowing is a brown colored snow formed from a combination of snow removal chemicals and who knows what from auto traffic. Here on Blairs Ferry Road in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is a glimpse of the recent five inch snow fall and lunch time traffic. Pretty appealing right? Well its not our best look for the year.

At the lower right in the photo is a sign for the El Kahir Shriner's building. That organization helps sick kids at hospitals through their money raising fez events within our community. I am told that El-Kahir is Arabic for... Mars. Hmm. Know that.

What? Another Iowa Governor Encounter: Robert D. Ray

This week 42N met current Iowa Governor, Chet Culver (D) at the Cedar Rapids airport. Three days later I discovered this photograph of then Governor Robert D. Ray (R.) According to the information on the back of the photo the governor and his wife were attending a parade in Vinton, Iowa on July 29, 1969. The governor waved to the crowd from the backseat of a 1938 Packard Super Eight.

Robert D. Ray served as Iowa's 38th governor from January 16, 1969 to January 14, 1983; this photo was taken during his sixth month in office. After Ray returned to private life, I met him in his capacity of co-owner of WMT radio in Cedar Rapids in the 1980s. Ray's office was located at the Life Investors (later AEGON, then later Transamerica) building where he served as a Board of Directors member.

Ray's third Lieutenant Governor was Terry Branstad, who later succeeded Ray as governor in 1983 for 16 years. In 2010 Branstad is running for governor again against Chet Culver.

On the day this earthly governor photo was taken, another series of photos were being snapped a world away - literally. NASA's Mariner 6 spacecraft began transmitting images of the planet Mars before the craft's closest approach two days later. Mariner soared 2,100 miles above Mars before going in a heliocentric (sun centered) orbit where it remains to this day. Images from Mariner 6 helped identify 20 percent of the planet, determine the composition and temperature of the polar caps, and led to decisions of where to send the first two Viking landers in 1976.

Forty-One years ago July 29th was a busy day here in 42N country and near the fourth rock from the Sun.

Face on Mars Resembles Lion

(top and bottom original photo source: NASA)

The Viking 1 orbiter photographed the so-called Face on Mars on July 25, 1976 while performing photo recon work for future landing sites on the red planet. The release of this image touched off three decades of investigation and conjecture.

The original 1976 press release from NASA stated: "The picture shows eroded mesa-like landforms. The huge rock formation in the center, which resembles a human head, is formed by shadows giving the illusion of eyes, nose and mouth. The feature is 1.5 kilometers (one mile) across, with the sun angle at approximately 20 degrees. The speckled appearance of the image is due to bit errors, emphasized by enlargement of the photo."

In April 2001, the Mars Orbital Camera (part of the Mars Global Surveyor) imaged the Face in much higher resolution. Once again depending on your viewpoint the martian landmark was interpreted as either a geologic feature that happens to resemble a human face or it represents a sculptured work - therefore purposely created.

While the Face feature rests near 41N martian latitude (coincidentally near 42N, hmm) there is an interesting comparison to illustrate.

Although I am not the first person to show this comparison my version is to take last week's masonic lion photo (see posting below,) divide the portrait in half, then position it with the high resolution NASA image of the Face from 2001. Interesting, don't you think? What is it telling us? Here is an opposing viewpoint for consideration. Perhaps the first human expedition to the area will settle this debate. Know that.